


What a Bright Time (It's the Right Time)

by amethystkrystal



Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Black Panther (2018), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sam Wilson plays Santa for the Wakandan children, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wakanda (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 21:07:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17108144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amethystkrystal/pseuds/amethystkrystal
Summary: Bucky gets a Christmas surprise.





	What a Bright Time (It's the Right Time)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crankyfractal (upquarkAO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/upquarkAO3/gifts).



> For the Marvel Holiday Swap  
> Crankyfractal requested sweet, fluffy nonsense and I was more than happy to deliver :)

It was blisteringly hot outside when Bucky woke up. He blinked his eyes open and groaned, squinting at the light filtering in from his hut's single window. Even barely peeking over the distant mountains, the sun was bright enough to wake him.

Sitting up, he glanced over at the bedside hologram interface Shuri had gifted him with.

**_6:02 AM_ **

**_Monday December 25_ **

The date gave him pause, and it took him a minute to figure out why.

 _Shit,_ he thought, chest suddenly tight with unbidden and unnameable emotion. _It's Christmas._

In the months since waking up from cryo, the days had blended together as he kept to the same routine of farm work and meditation every day. He couldn't remember the last time it mattered to him exactly what day it was, and it wasn't like Wakanda's perpetually sweltering climate gave any kind of indication that they were in _fucking_ _December_.

Fully awake now, he reached into the nightstand drawer for the phone he kept there. It was a simple thing, nondescript, and he only ever used it for one purpose. Selecting the single entry in his contacts list, he pressed the call button. It rang for a full minute before he got an answering machine message.

Bucky was disappointed but unsurprised. Undertaking covert missions on the lam, the odds of Steve answering his phone at any given time were a crapshoot -- it's why he was usually the one to call Bucky.

"Hey asshole," Bucky said into the receiver. "I just wanted to tell you 'Merry Christmas'." Having said the words aloud, memories came in a flood -- the way they always seemed to since Shuri fixed him. A set dinner table laden with chicken and veggies and pie. His Ma and Pa and three little sisters. Steve. His throat felt suddenly tight, and he remembered he was still on the line. Smiling, he fixated on a single memory and told Steve:

"Hey, remember the year you said you wanted Babe Ruth, meaning his baseball card? But I thought you were talking about the Baby Ruth candy? So I saved up all my newspaper route money for two weeks and bought you a full size bar. And it would have been alright except for how you were allergic to peanuts."

He laughed softly, shaking his head and still smiling. Steve would happy when he listened to this message; he was always happy when Bucky remembered.

"Anyways. Merry Christmas. I love you. Be careful."

He hung up and sets the phone aside, a heavy feeling settling in his chest. He wished he could tell his best guy "Merry Christmas" for real, wished he could hear the love he knew would be in Steve's voice when he said it back. But, still, he was grateful to just be able to leave that short voicemail. A year ago, it would have been unfathomable.

Hell, a lot of things about his life now would have been unfathomable a year ago. Like that fact that he had _goats_ that needed feeding.

He got dressed, pulling on a long tunic made of soft material and affixing a patterned kerchief over his shoulders to cover the stump of his left arm. He let his hair be.  It was difficult to manage one handed; maybe if the village children were around he could get one of them to tie it up for him -- they seemed oddly fond of the task.

Hefting a bag of feed over his shoulder, he made his way to the goat pen. Already gathered by the feeder, they started stomping and bleating excitedly at his approach. Bucky couldn't help the grin that spread wide across his face.

"Hey, cut it out! You act like I'm starvin' ya." He emptied the bag into the feeder and stepped back, watching them with fondness he never in a million years would have imagined he'd feel.

After a few moments, his kimoyo bead made a sharp trilling sound. Shuri had his made special for him to use one-handed, so without any difficulty, he brought up the incoming holo-call. An astonishingly lifelike projection of Shuri's face hovered above his wrist. She looked delighted about something, which had Bucky mildly concerned.

"Merry Christmas!" she exclaimed.

Bucky couldn't help laughing at the princess looking so damn pleased with herself. "Merry Christmas to you too, kid. I didn't think anybody around here knew what today was."

Shuri gave him an affronted look. If they were in person, Bucky was sure she would have smacked him. "I know what Christmas is, _inja_! My baba used to watch Die Hard all the time."

Bucky said nothing, having no idea what she was talking about. Shuri went on:

"Okoye will pick you up in two hours to bring you to the palace for the Christmas feast."

"The what?"

"Christmas feast. Wakanda's very first. I told T'Challa it would be a good gesture to express our openness to other cultures. But really -" She leaned in closer and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "I just wanted an excuse to get presents."

"Shuri..." Bucky didn't really know what to say. A Christmas feast held by the royal family sounded like a big to-do with a lot of important people -- not really a situation he was eager to be in. On the other hand, the prospect of spending Christmas alone in his hut was just downright depressing.

As per the norm since Bucky had arrived in Wakanda, Shuri made his decision for him.

"Two hours. Be ready. And take a shower first so you don't smell like goat shit." And with that, she ended the call and that was it.

Bucky was going to a royal Christmas feast.

  


Exactly two hours later, Bucky climbed into the landspeeder parked in front of his hut and exchanged a look with Okoye that very plainly said: _Fucking Shuri_. They didn't speak the entire way to Birnin Zana. Bucky was fine with that; Okoye's disdain for small talk was one of the reasons she was among his favorite people he'd met in Wakanda.

When they arrived, she led him through the palace halls, and Bucky hastened to keep up with her brisk pace, distracted by the elegant architecture and decor that blended the ancestral with the futuristic. At Okoye's approach, the great hall doors opened automatically, and Bucky gaped at the sight inside.

A dark wooden table stretched the entire length of the room, the entire surface covered with food of all kinds. It was mostly Wakandan fare that Bucky recognized from the village marketplace: kebabs of meats and vegetables, plantain chips flavored with red spice, platters of cheese and African fruits. And there were some American classics too: chicken roasted to a golden brown, glazed carrots, fresh cranberry sauce.  

The most amazing sight though was the massive Christmas tree at the head of the room,  standing tall as the ceiling and adorned with brightly colored ornaments and ribbons of silk embroidered with imagery of panthers and Wakandan letters. The tree sparkled with hundreds of tiny pinpricks of light, but Bucky couldn't see a single wire attached to any of the bulbs. Shuri's handiwork, no doubt.

Bucky was relieved to see the room wasn't nearly as full as he'd anticipated; it just seemed to be the tribal leaders and their families. The sounds of laughter and friendly chatter filled the air. A group of children chased each other around the base of the tree, making a game out of grabbing for the ornaments hung out of their reach. The Guy Lombardo version of "Winter Wonderland" played over an unseen speaker.

It was all so unbelievably _Christmas_ that Bucky wanted to cry.

He noticed Shuri at the far end of the table, seated beside T'Challa and the Queen Mother, and he started to make his way over to thank her. Halfway to his destination though, something caught his attention. A bowl of individually wrapped candies. The packaging may have changed in recent decades, but he would recognize those bright red letters anywhere.

_Baby Ruth_

"Hey Buck."

Bucky's eyes were already stinging with tears even before he turned fully around to see Steve standing there with a smile so bright and beautiful it put Shuri's Christmas tree to shame.

"Oh my _god_ ," Bucky managed to choke out before they were in each other's arms, and his mouth couldn't form words anymore, too occupied with pressing frantic, desperate kisses to Steve's lips and cheeks and forehead, any inch of skin he could get.

Steve was doing the same, holding Bucky tight and kissing him all over, each press of his lips feeling like a hot wire against Bucky's skin, alive and burning. They were in front of every single goddamn Wakandan official and their families, but Bucky couldn't bring himself to care because Steve was _here_.

At last, they pulled away but only enough to look each other in the eyes; Steve still had both hands holding Bucky's sides and Bucky kept his arm around Steve's neck.

"I didn't know you were coming," Bucky said stupidly. He was still in a bit of a daze. Kissing the love of your life for the first time after eight months apart would do that to a guy.

Steve just laughed at him. "Merry Christmas."

They stayed in their embrace for a while longer, just looking at each other. Bucky took in the sight of Steve's ripped and dirtied Captain America uniform, the weariness in his face even as he smiled at Bucky. He sighed and pulled Steve in, pressing their lips together again, deep and insistent, like he could kiss the exhaustion right out of him.

Someone next to them cleared their throat.

"You're making me nauseous," Shuri complained, suddenly beside them. "Go get a room."

Bucky rolled his eyes but said sincerely, "Thank you for this."

"Don't thank me. It was all your boyfriend's idea. I just went along with it because I was promised presents."

"Yeah, well," Steve said, "I couldn't spend Christmas without my best guy."

Bucky didn't have the words to convey the warmth that suddenly flared in his chest, so he just pulled Steve in for another kiss.

Shuri made a gagging sound.

"Besides," Steve went on when they pulled away from one another. "I figured it was time we all had a little break." Steve glanced around, and Bucky noticed for the first time that Natasha and Wanda were there too, talking to T'Challa at the other end of the room. If those two were there, that meant--

" _Ho ho ho!_ "

"No fucking way," Bucky deadpanned as Sam Wilson strode into the great hall in full Santa Claus regalia -- fake white beard and all -- and carrying a huge sack of wrapped gifts. He lumbered over to the Christmas tree, where the kids had just been playing and were now staring dumbstruck at the maroon-clad stranger.

"Who wants presents?" Sam opened up the sack, and even though the Wakandan kids didn't understand much English, they certainly knew what presents looked like when they saw them. They all started shrieking with delight, clambering over each other to get to "Santa" and his bag of goodies.

"He wanted to do it," Steve told Bucky as they moved closer to watch the spectacle. "He played Santa for his sisters' kids every year, but now..." Steve trailed off, a pained, guilty look coming over his face.

Bucky took his hand, intertwining their fingers. "Thank you for this," he said softly.

Steve said nothing, just gripped Bucky's hand tight as they watched the kids open presents. When all of the gifts in the sack had been bestowed, Sam came over to where Bucky and Steve were standing and pulled out a small wrapped box from his coat pocket. He held it out to Bucky.

"Here's a very special gift for you, Barnes, " Sam said, still speaking in an awful false-Santa voice.

Bucky snorted but took the present, setting it down on the table so he could remove the lid with one hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Steve had a comically strained look on his face, which Bucky knew meant he was trying very hard to act casual.

Bucky opened the box, and his heart stopped at the sight of a ring inside.

It was a simple thing, made of vibranium and engraved with a gold-lacquered pattern. Bucky felt his heart hammering in his chest, felt his whole body turn to lead. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. Vaguely, he registered that Steve had taken his hand in both of his and had gotten down on one knee.

"Bucky," Steve began with earnestness so honest and raw that Bucky's breath caught in his throat. "I have loved you my whole life. I loved you when were were just two kids on the playground. I loved you when we were young men scared to death of how we felt about each other. I loved you in the war. I loved you for 70 years buried in the Arctic and every second after I woke up. I have known the pain of losing you, more times than anyone should ever experience. And I have known the unspeakable joy of finding you again. Fate brought us to this century together, against all odds and laws of nature, and I've taken that as a sign we are never meant to be apart. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Steve had started crying, tears running ceaselessly down his face as he spoke, and Bucky realized his own cheeks were wet too.

"Bucky. Will you marry me?"

Bucky had been incapable of thought since the moment he saw the ring. But that was alright. He didn't need to think about his answer to Steve's question.

"Yes," he whispered, falling to his knees to embrace Steve right there on the great hall floor. "Yes, yes, yes." He said it over and over again in between the kisses he laid on Steve's face.

The room burst into cheers around them. Sam and Shuri wolf-whistled and high-fived. Bucky couldn't ever remember feeling so much emotion at once. It felt like he was going to burst with it. His legs were trembling as Steve stood them both back up and he couldn't stop the tears falling from his eyes as he slipped the ring on his finger.

Steve laid a hand on his cheek, wiping away the wetness. "T'Challa said we could have a ceremony here. Or if you want to wait, when this whole Accords situation is over, we could go home to Brooklyn. You know, it's legal in the States now for--"

"Steve," Bucky said, putting an end to his nervous rambling. "We could have our wedding" -- God that something to say out loud -- "in a truck stop in Jersey for all I give a shit. I just need you."

Steve just smiled and kissed the top of his head. When he pulled back, he was looking at something over Bucky's shoulder. The massive Christmas tree.

"God, it's just like Rockefeller Center."

"No," Bucky said, looking at the tree and then back at Steve. "It's even better."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Now let's just pretend Infinity War didn't happen...
> 
> Come say hello to me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/amethystk219/) since Tumblr sucks.


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